Feb 5, 2018
February has been deemed Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month, an awareness-raising campaign started by frustrated Chicago grocery store owner Anthony Dinolfo.
Stores around the world report losses of more than $800 million dollars a year due to thefts of shopping carts. The average shopping cart costs around $125 dollars. Depending on where you live, shopping carts are called trolleys, carriages, buggies, wagons, trundlers and gliders.
The first shopping cart was invented by Piggly Wiggly owner Sylvan Goldman in 1936. He noticed that when a customer’s basket became too heavy to carry, they headed straight for the check out line. So he got the idea of attaching wheels to a large basket to encourage customers to buy more. What’s another name for a contraption with moving parts? A whigmaleery!